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Depending on God, No Hard Work

By Mu Feng, United States

It has been five years since Feng worked as a special effect man. One morning, his director called him to the office, and said to him, “We have just received a large project, which needs you to produce it together with the newcomers. Not only does this project demand very high quality but also our clients want it terribly badly.” The director was saying and handed the production materials of the project to Feng. With full confidence, Feng said, “No problem. Trust me.” Hearing Feng’s words, the director nodded his head with satisfaction.

Feng came back to his own workroom and quietly read the concrete requirements of this special effects task. To his surprise, he found not only was there a great deal of work to do in the project but also it was very difficult. In addition, there were many kinds of special effects technologies in this project which he had never learned before. Although he had a few years’ practical experiences, he was quite unsure about this project in his heart. Thinking about these things made Feng’s heart produce invisible pressures. However, he knew that since he received the project, no matter how difficult it was, at present he could only go forward one step at a time.

Feng first found the difficult problems of the project, and then found the notes he had accumulated for many years and some materials he had collected, in order to look for the solutions. After a lot of effort, he found some ways. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, and next he started to do it. He thought: With my own a few years’ practical experiences, there shouldn’t be any problems for me to complete this project. After a day of struggle, the sample was finally finished.

The next day, when Feng gave the sample to the director to see, he never imagined that the director frowned and said, “This effect is too bland and is far from being up to their requirement. Ponder and do it all over again.” The words from the director made Feng feel very frustrated. He thought: It is not easy for me to think of this plan. If this won’t do, how can I finish the project?

Feng leaned against the chair in depression. Thinking of the importance of the project to the company, he felt as if there was a huge mountain pressing him. After tidying his thoughts, he opened his work notes and planned to seek the inspiration again. He read the notes over and over, but still didn’t have an idea. Then he went to look for the relevant books. Though he found some related principles, they didn’t match the project he made. Afterward, he visited a lot of websites on the Internet but still did not find the answer he wanted. At the moment, Feng was too fretful. When he opened the project materials once again, he did not have any thoughts. And the more he saw, the dozier he felt. At that time a colleague who was in charge of other project passed by Feng’s department after work. Feng immediately told his problem to the colleague and asked him for advice. The colleague also gave him some solutions, but it wouldn’t do when they were put into practice. At that moment, the night scene out of the window was like Feng’s feelings, and he felt a little disheartened.

Returning home, Feng lay paralyzed upon the sofa, feeling very helpless. At this time he took out his cellphone and opened the APP. Then a passage of God’s words just caught his eye, “No matter how great or small their stature is or what their personal environment is like, something that they cannot be without is looking to God and relying on God in all things; this is the greatest wisdom. … Sometimes, looking to God doesn’t mean speaking clearly when people pray to God for something, or for God to guide them in some way, or for God to protect them; rather it is that, when they encounter some issue, they are able to call on Him sincerely. So, what is God doing there? When someone’s heart stirs, and they have this idea: ‘Oh God, I can’t do this myself, I don’t know how to do it, and I feel weak and negative,’ when these thoughts arise in them, does God not know about it? When these thoughts arise in man, are people’s hearts sincere? When they call on God sincerely in this way, does God assent to help them? Despite the fact that they may not have spoken a word, they show sincerity, and so God assents to help them.”

Reading God’s words, Feng was quite delighted, and he thought: Right! The God I believe in is almighty and faithful. What God looks at is our true heart. No matter what difficulties we face, as long as we call out to and look to God, He will open up the way for us. This reminded Feng that when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he faced the actual circumstance where he just came out from the wilderness and was not very eloquent or good with words, and met the various obstacles which came from the Egyptian Pharaoh. Nonetheless, when he relied on and looked to God, God led him to break out of one hurdle after another, successfully leading the Israelites out of Egypt and bringing them to the land of Canaan. This is the power of God! It was then that Feng realized that the reason he was consumed by difficulties at that time was that he simply did not have a heart that relied on and looked to God, but instead relied on his own experience and caliber to complete this task. With this in mind, Feng knelt down and prayed, “Oh, God! You are almighty, and nothing is impossible for You. I know that inspiration is all from You. I’m willing to sincerely rely on and look to You, depending on the leadership of the Holy Spirit to do things.” After praying, Feng let out a long sigh and felt much released.

On the following day, Feng came to the company early. Thinking of the difficulties of the project, he still felt somewhat nervous. So he prayed to God once again that regardless, he was willing to be still in front of God, and hoped God would lead him. Beyond his expectations, when he arranged the materials, he saw a video without really being aware of it, and what it taught inside was able to resolve the difficulties that he encountered in the project. Feng was especially happy and kept thanking God in his heart because he knew that it was God who helped him and made a way out for him.

During the following production process, Feng always prayed to God quietly in his heart. The more he prayed, the clearer his thoughts became. Not only did he resolve the difficulties he encountered, but also he frequently had some new enlightenment. After a day of struggle, Feng and his colleagues accomplished the sample of this project at last. And after the director saw it, he nodded his head a few times and smiled, saying, “You have done a pretty good job. Continue to work hard.” Hearing these words, Feng constantly thanked and praised God in his heart. He knew that this was the result achieved by the work of God. Furthermore, the happiest thing for him was that he tasted God’s faithfulness during the production process. God was really and truly by his side and constantly helping him.

When Feng was practicing spiritual devotions in the evening, he read a passage of God’s words, “People spend most of their time living in an unconscious state. They don’t know whether it’s right to rely on God or on themselves. Then most of the time they choose to rely on themselves, to rely on the beneficial conditions and environments around them, as well as the people, events and things around them that are beneficial to them. This is what people are best at. What people are worst at is relying on God and looking to God, because they feel that looking to God is too much bother. They can’t see Him or feel Him, and they feel it is vague and not realistic to do so. So people perform the worst with this lesson, and their entry into it is the shallowest. If you don’t learn how to look to God and rely on God, you will never see the work God does on you, or the guidance and enlightenment He gives to you. If you can’t see these things, then the matter of whether or not God exists, whether or not He guides everything in the life of mankind will, in the depths of your heart, end with a question mark and not with a period or exclamation mark.”

Feng thought that he believed in God but had no place for God in his heart. Just as this experience, when he encountered difficulties he just resolved them by his mental capacity and many years’ work experience. When he failed by relying on these things, he trusted in the colleague as his hope rather than came before God to rely on Him. This just showed that he didn’t recognize God’s almightiness and sovereignty, and was of little belief for God.

Pondering God’s words, Feng took a deep breath. Looking back to the years when he believed in God, he always felt that he was very estranged from God. It turned out that it was because he didn’t pray to or rely on God in the things that he encountered, and didn’t pay attention to experiencing God’s work. As a matter of fact, there are God’s good intentions behind the environments we encounter every day. By experiencing these environments, we come before God and look to and commit ourselves to Him to seek His guidance. Only in this way, can we get closer and closer with God and also have an increasing knowledge of God.

Through this experience, Feng truly felt the importance of relying on and looking to God in everything. In the days that followed he began to focus on entering this aspect of the truth. Every time he got a new task, regardless of whether it was hard or easy, he would first pray and commit it to God to guide and enlighten him. And when he faced some difficulties, he would be quiet before God to pray and search. In the end he would be able to gain some enlightenment to resolve the difficulties. After a period of time, Feng improved his technologies and skills, and also had a more practical understanding of God’s almightiness and faithfulness. He truly appreciated that God is beside him.

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